Buyer III

Title:  Buyer III 

Reports to: Purchasing Manager

Work Arrangement: On-site (Full time)

Company Overview 

Metrea delivers effects-as-a-service to national security partners across five domains and more than a dozen mission areas—including airborne ISR, electronic warfare, secure communications, aerial refueling, special mission aviation, aerial firefighting, and advanced simulation. 

Wherever we operate, we build vertically integrated full stacks of capability—designing, building, and operating turnkey solutions that let customers scale capacity while benefiting from continuous cycles of innovation. With operators and engineers under one roof, we close the gap between lab and field—what we call connecting design with effect. 

Metrea’s solutions are built for elegance: effective, efficient, and evolving. This approach enables our partners to do more with less and achieve outsized, asymmetric advantage against rapidly evolving threats. 

Headquartered in Washington, DC, Metrea has facilities across the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and beyond.

Aerospace Engineering Group (AERO) provides an integrated, end-to-end capability for the rapid modification and fielding of mission-specific aircraft. The Airborne Asset Adaptation (A3) Cell acts as the central command and coordination hub, managing requirements and external interfaces from inception to operational delivery. Specialized technical execution is delivered by the Aircraft Integration Centre (AIC), a Part 145 facility focused on airframe modification, and Aerospace Design (ASD), which provides organic design engineering and FAA-authorized certification. Collectively, these elements bridge the gap between initial requirements and the deployment of flight-certified, mission-ready assets.

Position Summary 

The Buyer III is a strategic partner who mentors junior staff and manages the most critical vendors and is a subject matter expert responsible for the lifecycle management of complex products and services. This role provides leadership within the Purchasing team and partners with Strategic Sourcing to drive long-term strategies and manage vendor performance and relationships. This role will specifically be responsible for ensuring procurement requirements of the AERO Group Part 21 efforts, with a focus on the Metrea Aircraft Integration Center (MAIC) Part 145 Repair Station. This includes improving and maintaining all aspects of our MAIC purchasing operations, IAW higher level enterprise standards and guidance. This role will be responsible for ensuring purchasing requirements that are derived from engineering data, requirements entered into the ERP, required vendor audits, developing vendor relationships and facilitating purchasing transactional relationships.

What You’ll Do

Strategic Planning and Forecasting

• Design and implement long-range procurement plans for critical aircraft systems to ensure alignment with business OKRs and internal customer requirements.
• Conduct macro-economic analysis and monitor geopolitical trends to anticipate fluctuations in raw material pricing. (e.g., titanium, aerospace-grade aluminum)
• Serve as the primary procurement voice in SIOP meetings to align executive-level production targets with vendor capacity.
• Partner with our experienced and talented Supply Chain and Global Logistics team alongside various Metrea Capability Areas and will need to learn the various work streams and requirements for the entire global enterprise. 

Procurement and Vendor Management

• Lead the preparation and issuance of RFIs and RFPs, evaluate supplier bid responses for commercial and technical compliance, and develop and execute negotiation strategies to secure optimal commercial value.
• Participate in "Make vs. Buy" teams.
• Identify underperforming critical vendors and participate in cross-functional "Tiger Teams" (e.g., Quality, Engineering, Logistics) to improve their manufacturing processes.
• Manage the total cost, including price, cost of quality, freight/duty, and inventory carrying costs.

Data Integrity and Communication

• Partner with the Center of Excellence to define and standardize Purchasing workflows, ERP configurations, and data governance policies.
• Develop and present executive-level dashboards on Purchasing health, cost, quality, and performance KPIs and the impact to overall material availability.
• Function as a lead for Buyer I and II roles, providing guidance on complex FAR/DFARS compliance issues and advanced negotiation tactics.
• Lead Lean Six Sigma or Kaizen events that transcend the procurement department to optimize the entire end-to-end value stream.

MAIC Specific Responsibilities

This role has specific responsibilities to support the requirements for the Metrea Aircraft Integration Center (MAIC) which is primarily focused on build-to-print and other modification programs for Metrea and its customers, with additional Part 145 and Part 21 requirements.

• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, IPC diagrams, and blueprints for the purpose of identifying purchasing and sourcing requirements. 
• Ability to derive purchasing requirements from proprietary data sets and construct purchasing plans/updates to show procurement progress based off MDL and BOM scopes assigned for procurement. 
• Facilitate the transfer of technical data packages to suppliers and collaborate with Engineering and Quality to clarify drawing questions, part applicability, revision levels, and technical requirement prior to purchase.
• Procure specialized components for avionics integration, structural mods, mission equipment installs, antenna/radome integration, and wiring harness fabrication.
• Support material readiness for First Article Inspections, ground tests, fit‑checks, and aircraft integration validation events as applicable.
• Assist in identifying and problem-solving long lead or critical path materials that impact aircraft integration schedules. 

What You’ll bring

Education

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent demonstrated experience required, MBA or specialized Master's preferred.

Experience 

• 5–10 years’ experience developing and managing purchasing requirements for aviation MRO activities, with preference for a Part 21/Modification focused background 
• Demonstrated experience negotiating high value contracts and strategic sourcing.
• Demonstrated mitigation of global supply chain risks.
• Technical background in aerospace manufacturing processes and/or aircraft systems.
• Knowledge and understanding of Aviation Part Numbers/Alternate Part Numbers and National Stock Numbers.
• Demonstrated proficiency in understanding the documentation required for a part to be "airworthy." (e.g., FAA Form 8130-3)

Additional Eligibility Qualifications 

• Extensive and demonstrated utility with typical Business Software applications (Excel, Power-Bi, Teams, etc.).
• Seasoned commercial awareness.
• Experience interacting with and counselling senior business leaders.
• Demonstrated ERP/MRP Proficiency through managing assigned parts, item masters, vendor records, and running reports to evaluate and forecast requirements to drive material availability to the highest levels while optimizing cost and inventory levels.

Our Firmware 

At Metrea, our single core value, Rooted in Humility, and our four cornerstone attributes—Entrepreneurial, Systematic, Discerning, and Over-Deliver. These form what we call our Teammate Firmware. Just like technical firmware connects software and hardware, our Firmware is the constant interface between our mission and our people. It defines how we show up, how we work together, and how we solve complex problems.

Our team Firmware creates a web-like, hyper-collaborative, dynamically hierarchical way of working that helps us adapt quickly, communicate openly, and distribute decision-making to where expertise actually lives. It enables groups to self-organize around hard problems, shift fluidly as priorities evolve, and operate with the trust, curiosity, and discipline required in a complex mission space. This foundation allows us to deliver elegant, effective solutions and uphold our purpose: protecting our precious inheritance.

Benefits 

Comprehensive medical plan options

HSA/FSA accounts

Dental and vision coverage

6% employer 401(k) match

Fully paid parental leave for all new parents

Generous PTO

Life and disability insurance
 Long-term and Short-term disability coverage

AD&D Coverage

Pet Insurance

Employee Assistance Program

Subsided gym membership / plans through Wellhub   

Work Authorization / Security Clearance 

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States.

AAP/EEO Statement 

This Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status or other characteristics protected by law. 

Position Type and Expected Hours of Work 

This is a full-time exempt position with typical working hours of Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Hours and work shifts may change in accordance with department and business needs. Exempt Employees must have the ability to be on-call and available, as business needs require.

Work Location 

Tampa, FL 

Work Environment 

This job operates in an office, aircraft hangar and warehouse setting.

Travel 

Ability to travel up to 10-20%, including International.